Falling
by Illustrioustaco
Summary: Loki is lost and almost powerless. Tony is dying of that which keeps him alive. Together, they might just get through things. Takes place after Thor, and between the Iron Man movies. Eventual FrostIron.
1. Falling

Soooo... I was hit by a plotseed after watching The Avengers. I should be working on Fiery Spirit, but this plot bunny wouldn't stop gnawing on my lobes, so I typed out a decent start and will start working alternatively on this and Fiery Spirit.

Fair warning, this WILL have pairings, primarily FrostIron, and I'm hoping that this will be enjoyable for everyone to read. Tony will show up next chapter, and this story takes place about halfway between the Iron Man moives, presuming that the Marvel universe movies are in tandem with each other, but not perfectly synched. Please, please let me know what you think about it.

Originally Posted as Thor/Avengers xover because I couldn't find the Iron Man movies under catagory. Moved it to plain avengers because I plan on following events up through the avengers movie.

* * *

The abyss was icy cold, even to the stolen Jotun child that tumbled through the emptiness between the stars. Few enough would consider him a child, but for all that he was as old as myth and legend, there was little in him that was truly malicious. Deeply wounded though, he wanted to lash out in his pain and share it with everyone. He couldn't bear the thought of returning to his home after his father's rejection, but neither could he find a reason to journey elsewhere. Perhaps he could simply drift here in the void.

Lost, alone, where he belonged, no more able to be looked down upon as different, no more with his 'family' sneering at him for not being good enough, not being a warrior like his elder brother. It hurt to think of his brother, to know that Thor would never understand what Loki had done, not in ten thousand years. So caught up in his thoughts was the Tricksmith, that he barely noticed that tendrils reaching out for him.

He jerked out of his reverie as it wrapped around the horns on his helm, pulling away with a snarl, only to have the foul, inky magic follow his movements. "No." He stated, growling as he fought to keep his armor and pull away from the magic coiling around him. He was no fool… whatever this was… it would enslave him, he could feel the spells trying to wrap around him and subjugate his will. It would feed the seeds of hatred in his heart if he didn't find a way to escape.

He grinned, realizing it was simple enough to accomplish this, and reached into his magic, copying himself not far away. No one had ever been able to tell his copies from himself, and he could feel a hint of conflict, not quite confusion in the magic trying to bind him. It didn't let go of him, though this was no hardship. Focusing on a rare used talent, Loki pulled himself into his 'copy', taking his magic and mind with him as he made real that which wasn't and made illusion that which had been real. He had done this not long ago on the Bifrost as his brother, naive fool, knelt down to help him up, and keep him from falling. He supposed his real fight had been over by then, but he had needed so much to chastise his brother for that moment of foolishness. Never offer help to a fallen enemy who might yet turn the tables on you, if his brother couldn't learn that he would continue to be too foolish to be allowed to rule Asgard.

This seeping magic was too clever for this though. Loki cursed as he realized something was going wrong with his spell, the inky magic of those cursed tendrils seeping through.. It is all he can do to struggle wildly to get away from it, fear flooding through him. He had no idea what was happening any more, only that he was fleeing for all that he was worth.

The cold seemed even colder now, and the blackness was reaching out to him again, but the black haired man evaded, growling as he hurled himself towards the nearest safe haven, the world that was closest to the core of the World Tree, Midgard.

* * *

Seriously, please tell me what you think of this? I thrive on input and if anyone would actually like to help me plot out bits and pieces of the future of the fic, let me know. Loki is going to be completely powerless for a little while, but he will get better :3 I know very little about the marvel Universe if it isn't in the movies... literally next to nothing... I feel like a noob, but if anyone is willing to help me out with characterization, and other marvel Characters likely to show up I would be grateful.


	2. Hit the Ground

Not sure I'm happy with this chapter… still considering doing a rewrite and turning Loki into… actually.. notes at end of chapter…

Chapter 1

When the sky opens up and deposits its burden on the surface of Midgard, few if any of the mortals notice the disturbance, the wind that kicks up and the clouds boil. The weather isn't unusual this time of year though, and even before the gods arrival there had been a storm front moving in. If he hadn't been a god, he would never have survived the landing, though crash would have been more accurate.

It was strangely fitting in the fallen gods opinion that as he regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was that it was raining. He supposed that it was also cold, since that was the usual temperature when the precipitation decided to happen, but he didn't feel it. In fact, he wasn't sure anything would ever feel cold again after his little jaunt after that incident with the Bifrost.

It had only been hours or weeks ago. Loki was still having a problem believing that Thor had destroyed the rainbow bridge, though he had left his erstwhile brother little enough choice in the matter. The fact that he was shuddering and his magic seemed completely depleted didn't help at all, and after the way that inky wrongness had tried to take him in the void he could only hope he would recover soon. What little magic he had left was barely enough to keep himself cloaked from Hemidal's sight. No matter what else happened, he didn't want any of his 'family' coming after him.

He didn't want to even think about it yet, about the fact that though he had always believed Odin his father, and Frigga his mother, they were not. The horrible thing about being a god of Lies though, was that he could see the truth behind each lie, even his own. Though Odin had taken him from Laufey for his own reasons, he had truly come to think of Loki as his own son, and it was the same with his mother. If they hadn't, Loki would have seen through their lies long ago, King and Queen of the Aesir or not.

Coughing, Loki looked around, wondering where he was and what he was going to do now. He wasn't going back to Asgard until his latest fiasco blew over and even he was certain that would take at least a century at this point. Not that it much mattered. At least he was on Midguard instead of somewhere boring like Niflheim or dangerous like Nifhel. The Queen Hel was a sweet girl, but also terrifying when crossed in her own realm, and Loki wasn't very good at staying on good terms with his family at the moment.

On the other bright side he had been here recently and had some idea what to expect as he took in his surroundings. At least he hadn't managed to land anywhere populated by the humans, though he didn't seem to be too far outside of some kind of city. Loki grinned, remembering the stylish suit he had worn for his last visit here and calling it to him to replace what he was wearing. It wasn't Asgardian finery, but it would do here and now as he took a look around while he decided what he was going to be doing.

Only his clothes, torn up from his rough landing, didn't change at his will. Loki frowned, stumbling a little as he took stock of himself. He felt like he was himself, and at full power, but he had none of his usual magic at his call. He panicked for a moment, running his disciplined mind through the exercises and spells that had been part of him as long as he remembered. They were still there, perfectly intact.

The only things missing were his power, and his armor. His armor was a part of him, forged for him and bound to him through his own essence. His power was depleted, and it didn't feel like he would return to the deep wellspring that made him one of the greatest sorcerers of the nine worlds. The fallen god shuddered as he remembered that inky blackness that had tried to envelope him and keep him from escaping. Had it gotten what it wanted after all? Was it some ploy from the Jotun to get back at him for killing their king? Or something from the Aesir? Could his father truly have been so displeased with him as to send out that kind of black magic to punish him? He could think of no other in Asgard who had the strength to cast such an enchantment, though he was well aware that there were many other kinds of creatures and beings out there not in the nine core worlds of the World Tree.

The realization that he was truly stripped of his power was more terrifying than the thought of being alone and abandoned, and the god took stock of himself, knowing he would need to marshal all his strength remaining to find a way to reclaim his power and armor.

He's so focused on his thoughts, and stumbling towards the bright lights of the nearby city, that the roar of an unfamiliar vehicle and its scream of panic caught him by surprise as blindingly bright lights seemed to appear out of nowhere. The impact to his torso and flight as it knocked him through the air made him briefly wonder if whatever had stolen his power had also stolen his godhood… otherwise there was no way he was going to survive landing.

XXXX

"Shit.. shit Tony what the fucking hell." The man who climbed out of the now stopped Ferrari growled at himself as he stumbled out of his vehicle. This road was abandoned, there was no one who traversed these roads, it was a cow pasture somewhere outside the city, not some highway where drunks wandered at will.

Which given he was drunk as hell and wandering at will, but he was a very high functioning drunk and that wouldn't save him from years in prison on charges of manslaughter. This might be the one thing that Pepper and his team of lawyers wouldn't be able to get him out of. Battle and in his Suit was one thing, especially since he was working on privatizing world peace, but running into someone because he was drunk and they weren't supposed to be there? That just might be trouble.

Kneeling next to the unknown stranger, tony watched him, reaching out and checking for a pulse before breathing a sigh of relief and practically collapsing on himself. "Fuck… you were not supposed to be here.. just for the record." He proclaimed to the unconscious body, feeling cross and sour. His pleasant buzz was long gone, burned away by the adrenalin rush of having hit someone. The playboy pulled out his phone, dialing pepper before hanging up before she could answer. He couldn't ask for her help in this, that was what had gotten him out here driving off steam in the first place.

"Well… I hope to god that you don't have any internal bleeding friend." Tony growled, running his hand through his hair before bending down and muscling up the strange man towards his parked Ferrari. He wasn't worried about the upholstery, but getting the man he had hit into the vehicle he briefly wondered if he should.

The guy was thin, rails thin, and dressed in tattered black and green that looked like it had been nice not very long ago. Over all of that there was some kind of greasy, black residue, almost like tar although it didn't smell nearly as pungent as it would if it was indeed tar or oil. The man seemed to be breathing okay though, and Tony still didn't know what to do with him, so he finished putting him in his car.

"I hope that whatever's all over you won't ruin my car… but all in all I think that's a distant second in worry to all other things." Tony said, closing the passenger door before slipping into the driver side. Jarvis had a med scan function, and that would catch anything too outrageously wrong with his guest and give him a good idea what to do with the man.

XXX

When Loki woke up, he definitely didn't recognize his surroundings and he felt as if he had been hit with Moljnor, when Thor was in a very sour mood. Though technically he had been, it had been days (hours?) ago and he should have felt at least a little better though. He blinked blearily as he pulled himself into a sitting position, wincing as he felt his ribs protest this movement most vehemently.

"Oh thank god you're awake. What the hell were you doing in the middle of an abandoned field this late at night? Early in the morning?" The man who spoke was seated in a chair not far from where Loki seemed to be laying in a bed. He didn't know the man of course, but something about him made Loki want to get to know him. There was a certain allure, even if he was only human.

"Abandoned… field?" he asked, curious, and slightly confused. He smiled after a moment, hoping to alleviate the others agitation. "I have no idea… was I lost?"

"What do you mean 'were you lost'? I don't see how you could have been. That cowpatie has been out of use for the last fifteen years, I know because I've been driving there to blow off steam since I was sixteen." The man said with a scowl, and Loki almost grinned at the way he flushed with anger.

"Where am I?" He asked, curious, schooling his features to confusion and nervousness.

"Malibu, about a half hour drive from where I ran into you… literally. Two hours if you actually do the speed limit." The man conceded, but for all it seemed like he was trying to explain, it sounded quite confusing to the Jotun.

"Mal... Ibu?" Loki frowned, wondering if he had heard that place on his last visit to this planet but not finding the name familiar. "I… I don't know what that is? Is it a town?"

There was a dawning look of horror on the mans face, and Loki wondered why for a moment before he spoke. "Do you… you do remember where you are, right? And what your name is?"

Loki opened his mouth to respond that of course he knew who he was, before quick thought halted his words. He had heard of mens brains being addled after particularly hard blows in battle, and it seemed this man thought that had happened to him. It would be a perfect excuse to hide out here on Midgard until his strength returned and he could figure out what had happened to himself. "I'm… I…" He stuttered for a moment, sounding more and more confused as he bought his hand to his head, face twisting in look of utter panic.

Acting was after all a form of Lying, and he was the god of lies.

XXXX

Notes:

Okay. As I was saying, I'm actually considering turning Loki into an amnesiac because I'm not sure if its going to work out very well later in the story. On the other hand, if anyone actually has a chance of pulling off lying about something like that, it would be Loki.. quite the conundrum. If I do decide to change it, I would need to rewrite about half this chapter…

Also, sometime later I'm going to be having Loki in his Jotun form. :3 with a reason. Hopefully a good one, but if not at least a fanservicy one. *evil*


	3. Pause for Breath 1

Buggrenhellfraggleonastick. I was hoping to have hit at least another plot point in this part… guess that just means I'll have to make this part into Parts… And yea… Loki and Tony get wordy…

First off, thank you everyone who reviewed, you've been quite the inspiration and I like it when people like what I write :3 please leave feedback again. Second off, more notes at the end of the chapter.

XXX

Chapter 2

Pause for Breath, Part One

XXX

Come morning, Loki was still finding his hosts reactions to him knowing nothing about modern technology amusing, though he honestly had no idea that the humans of Midgard had become so advanced in their pursuits. The man, Tony Stark as he had given his name, was panicking more and more after Loki had finished his own set of hysterics. The sorcerer was finding it very amusing deep inside, and he would have added to his acting and gotten up and paced if he could through the pain of his ribs and head. He honestly had no idea why his head hurt so much, but at least he wasn't bored at the moment which was one up on most of his life.

"Mr.. Tony… I am very tired…" Loki stated finally, kneading his head as he curled in on himself, the picture of pitiful as the sun rose…

"Right… right… crap… I'll get Jarvis to run a search and see if you have any records and we'll get you back to your family in no time I'm sure." Tony stated, rubbing his own head as he stood up. "In the meantime, you rest and please don't press a lawsuit when you remember because Pepper will have my head I can't believe I ran you over…" The man was muttering as he left the room, and Loki shook his head, wondering at how the mortal walked so straight considering he had likely been up even longer than the god, his eyes crimson and puffy as if he had been drinking for a week.

When he was gone, Loki lay back, going through his list of options. There were so many, and at the same time so few to consider. If his magic was strong enough, he would simply force his body to heal, which while unpleasant, was something he had done fairly regularly as often as he got into trouble following his brother around. He would then disappear from here and set himself up

As it was though, his magic was barely enough to cloak himself from Hemidals sight let alone force broken ribs to heal and fix whatever was wrong with his head. However, he had all too much of a suspicion that whatever was wrong with his head was also wrong with his magic, and in either case the strength simply wasn't there to do what he wanted.

As his thoughts ran in circles around each other, nothing presenting a true solution for his predicament, Loki wished that he hadn't sent the other man, Tony Stark, away just yet. If nothing else, he was quite the amusing distraction from the depressing turn of events his thoughts were taking. Growling to himself, Loki ran his hand through his hair, glaring up as he tried to force his brain into working on what he would do now. Undoubtedly these humans would be upset with him when they found out he was the one who had sent the Destroyer after his perfect, golden brother.

So the expedient thing to do would be to not let them find out.

XXXX

Tony paced in his living room, going to his wet bar and helping himself to a rather large serving of good scotch. Let it never be said that he was not appreciative of good scotch especially when he was pretty sure he wouldn't be getting any more of the good stuff when Pepper found out what had happened and had him locked up.

He really didn't need this right now, especially considering that he was still dealing with the latest conjecture on what was happening to his own body. If he looked down at his arc reactor right now, he would see the depressing truth already discoloring the skin around the implant. "Fuck." He said, quiet because even though he knew he had some of the best soundproofing in the country, the bedroom still held an amnesiac that he had probably made that way when he pulverized him with his Ferrari. "Fuck fuck fuck…" Slamming down the rest of the scotch, let it join what was left after his binge earlier that night, or rather the night before at this point, Tony went to the window and flicked up a few screens with a motion of his fingertips.

"Alright, Jarvis did you hear me earlier?" He asked, fingers tapping rapidly through screens of information and logistics. "Run a scan on our nameless friend and start searching the databases for a match so we can get him home and out of our hair."

"Already started sir." The soothing, dry voice of his AI stated, and Tony nodded, trusting the program to do what was needed. "However, there is going to be a slight problem finding him in the databases we have access to."

"Problem? What problem? I know for a fact that you can hack the national security grid, never mind some paltry hospital and police records." Tony stated, ignoring for now the ice in his gut as he tried to figure out why his computer was sure they couldn't find his guests origins.

"While this statement is true, the physiology of your guest does not match human standards." Jarvis stated, obviously already running his scans.

"Wait… what?" Tony frowned again, bringing up a display of the scans that Jarvis had run. "There can't be anything too far out of the norm, what does he have a sixth toe or something?"

"No sir, though that would fall into the human norms as my databanks perceive them. Rather, I'm referring to the fact that he seems to have two hearts and several unrecognizable internal organs as well as lacking a few things." Tony growled as he realized he probably shouldn't have tried to program a sense of humor into the AI, and his fingers flicked through the results of the computers scans, eyes skimming over the complete medical jargon for the gist of exactly what his guest seemed to be made of.

"Holy shit, are you telling me we have some kind of alien or mutant here?" Tony asked, his mouth drying out.

"Mutation is highly unlikely sir, but I would require a sample of DNA from our guest to know for absolute certain." Jarvis stated, and Tony rubbed his head before turning away from his screens, letting them minimize and dim while he poured himself another, larger glass of scotch.

"Right… Run those searches anyways… who knows, we might get lucky." He growled, slamming back the liquor before stumbling over to the couch, to await the results. On one hand it seemed he wouldn't need to worry about going to jail if everyone found out… and on the other it seemed like if anyone did find out his guest would get dragged into the deepest reaches of Area 51, or wherever they were using these days, and never see the light of day again.

It reminded him of a certain 'terrorist attack' that had happened all too recently for him to forget, and his own fear that he would never see what was most important to him again. Obie's betrayal was still far too fresh, and if this guy really was helpless, then Tony didn't want to be the one to do that to him.

XXXX

Loki slept, eventually, waking a few hours later and groaning in pain as he remembered what had happened. He still didn't have much magic available, and his wounds had barely started healing as of yet. It was frustrating, and Loki shuddered as he realized he couldn't possibly be much stronger than a mere mortal right now. Biting back the sound of his agony, Loki laboriously began to pull himself to his feet, checking his condition as he did. He hadn't taken note of it the night before, but it seemed as if he had been stripped out of the tunic and pants he wore under his leather armor, and dressed in something softer, but ill fitting. Whatever he was wearing fit around the waist and shoulders well enough, but was obviously made for someone slightly shorter than him.

Sitting now on the edge of the large, soft bed, Loki looked around, wondering what kind of abode he was win. The entire wall was made of glass, giving a breathtaking view of beach and sea the likes of which Loki hadn't seen in centuries, and never from an indoor visage.

"I wouldn't suggest getting up until your ribs have a better chance to heal." Tony stated, stepping into the room, and Loki looked over at him, an eyebrow raising as he took in the tray in the mans hands. "I can't cook worth a danm, but Happy was happy to drop by with some grub. It's a good place to, fancy little diner just on the outskirts of town."

Tony looks warily at him, and Loki looks back, careful to maintain the light confusion in his features, before honestly frowning. "Happy… ?" How could this human make it sound like an emotion had done him a favor and bought food to him.

"Harold. My body guard.. kind of. Boxing teacher, chauffer. Makes sure I don't go too long without eating." Tony grinned as he moved forward and sat down on the chair near the bed again. "I just call him happy. Suits him, he's the most serious, depressing man I know. At least, on a regular basis. Here, have some food." He stated, placing the tray on the bed in front of Loki, and he looked at it confused for a moment, before wincing as he pulled back slightly so that he was no longer perched on the edge of the sleeping surface.

"Erm…" He frowned at the foods, somewhat unfamiliar with most of what was in front of him. Some of it looked like bread at least, and he picked up a slender piece of that, wondering why it was so small. "Thank you." He stated, quite unsure how to respond without slipping into his usual arrogance, which he was certain would do him no good whilst he was injured and in this mans care.

"Eh, no problem, and I have a few questions to ask you but I think I can wait till your done eating since I'm not sure how you'll take it." Tony stated. For some reason, Loki felt rather put out, and instead of continuing to eat, he set aside the food, staring at his host.

"If I'm going to be uncomfortable for questioning, I would rather it be on an empty stomach." He said, not needing to feign nerves at the moment, under this mortals gaze and how far had he fallen that he was willing to put up with this.

"Well then… I guess I'll forgo playing at tact and ask right out…" The man paused, running a hand through his salted dark hair. "Are you a mutant, or an extra terrestrial? Do you really not remember, or are you feigning amnesia to hide origins of a non human nature?"

Loki was stunned, his hands gripping the blanket as a multitude of thoughts ran through his mind, and from the way that Tony's eyes had highlighted, there was no doubt that the mortal had noticed his sudden tension. It was impossible that the other could know he was a god, impossible for him to figure it out, and no one knew where he was. He was still able to cloak himself from Hemidal's sight, so it was impossible that his brother or some other Aesir had warned his host. In any case, if it had been them, certainly they would have dragged Loki back in chains for punishment of his crimes.

The human had no magic to detect Loki's own and know that way, the god was certain enough of that at least though now that he thought on it there was something strange about the mans heart… "What… what is a mutant?" He asked, hoping to buy himself a few moments of time to finish thinking through his options and analyze how the other had figured him out.

"A certain strain of humans who have, how does publicity put it… 'leaped ahead in evolution.' Personally, I still think its just media hype and mass paranoia, but there are studies, pictures, and legitimate biological science behind it all. I'm more of an engineer myself, medical jargon gives me a headache." Tony explained, not taking his eyes off of Loki as the god listened, absorbing this information with some trepidation. "I take it you're an alien then?"

Loki leveled a fierce glare at the man, before a slow smirk spread across his features. "You… are very perceptive." He finally said, wincing as he leaned back against the pillows and headboard and the human grinned. "I… am not from this realm, that is true, but you have my word I don't have any intentions to cause harm or strife. How did you find out?"

Tony grinned brightly at him, before standing up and moving to the huge window. "Jarvis, display the medical scans you took of our guest this morning." He stated, and Loki started as the window seemed to dim, smaller bright blue windows popping up on it and showing what looked to be a picture of a body, but from a vastly different view than Loki was accustomed to. "I live in the most advanced house on the face of the planet, not to brag too much. Designed and built most of it myself. So… if you don't intend to cause harm and strife, why are you here?"

Loki couldn't pull his eyes away from what Tony said was mere technology, unable to believe that such a feat could be accomplished without some kind of magic at least. When last he had come to this realm, not so long ago to confront his brother, there had been nothing like this, it was impossible, but he didn't feel magic from the human at all. "What manner of sorcery is this?" he asked, instead of answering the mortal's question, grinning as he pulled himself once more to the edge of the bed, ready to stand up and examine this more closely though he could still not detect a hint of magic in the air.

"Sorcery? There's no such thing as magic." Tony said with a snort, shaking his head and dismissing the displays with a flick of his fingers. "Answer my question." He said, even as the window once more brightened instead of being shaded. Loki sighed in disappointment, determined to look around and figure out what manner of sorcery Tony was using the first chance he got.

"I'm here because I fell off of the bridge, and happened to land here." He stated, wondering how much to tell the other man, or perhaps how much the other was going to pull out of him. Tony Stark seemed to be quite perceptive, more so than Loki had expected of any human, and it would have been refreshing if he wasn't exhausted and vulnerable right now. He was at less than half the strength he should have, and if this human found out who and what he was, there was no telling what the man might do.

"A bridge? Really? That's all you've got?" Tony asked, a frankly incredulous look on his face and Loki had to chuckle at his expression, before the god shook his head, a shrewd look on his face as he wondered what exactly the other would understand, and again how much to tell him. "I recognize that look. I've worn it myself. You're not some kind of failed clone are you?"

Loki laughed at this statement, curling in on himself in pain and wheezing around his broken ribs, before cursing as he couldn't hold in his mirth. If there was an edge of hysteria to his voice, Tony was kind enough not to say anything yet. "No.. nothing like that at all. I think it would be better to explain that this bridge is between the branches of Yggdrasill. My people call it the Bifrost."

Tony frowned, before speaking again but not addressing Loki. "Jarvis, that sounds familiar, look it up for me?"

"Certainly sir. There are seven hundred thirty thousand results for Yggdrasill, which parse down to the world tree, an immense structure housing each 'realm'. There are one million five hundred and eighty thousand results for Bifrost, once more parsing down to it being the bridge between the different realms and branches of Yggdrasill, purportedly made of rainbows." The voice was concise and clipped, seeming to come from the thin air, and Loki nearly jumped out of his skin since he had thought that there was no one in the room with them.

Looking around, he realized that there really was no one with him, and he frowned, wondering if this man had some kind of invisible servant. "Who… who is this?" he asked, slightly pale and glad he hadn't given the other his name yet.

"Just my AI, Jarvis. Programed him myself and I told you, I live in THE most advanced house on the face of the planet, though I'll admit I find myself curious about where you come from and whether or not you have anything comparable." Tony was watching him, and Loki grinned winsomely, leaning back slightly as he tried to look as disarming as possible. "So, does this mean you're norse then? Or something like it?"

"Something like it perhaps." Loki admitted, knowing that the northern humans worshiped his kind long ago. "What manner of being is this… AI, Jarvis? Is it an invisible servant of some kind?"

"Hardly." The dry, sardonic voice droned and Loki thought he might have heard it come from the ceiling, but his eyes and magical senses, what few there were, still detected nothing.

"No… Not really. Jarvis is… well, essentially he's the house, and a few more things but never mind that. Who are you?" Tony was looking at him with narrowed eyes, and Loki could sense that he was irritating his thus far gracious host.

"Fenrir Laufeyson." Loki stated, no sense of hesitancy to his voice, just as there had not been in his other answers, and he smirked as Tony seemed startled that he answered. He was having fun playing this game, making the human ask specific questions if he wanted specific answers. Because he was answering, even if Tony didn't realize it, he was drawing the human to answer his questions, though not completely. "What do you plan on doing with me?" This was quite an important question.

"There are five thousand search results for Fenrir Laufeyson, however none of them are relevant to this conversation. Each entry seems to be from networking sites. However Fenrir and Laufeyson each have several thousand results on their own." Jarvis stated, and Tony rubbed his head, making Loki suspect that the frustration wasn't just his fault.

"Until I ask again, just parse the results without telling me how many there are. What were the results on the separate names?" Tony was still watching Loki, but the god was honestly interested in Jarvis's answer, watching the point in the ceiling where he was certain the 'houses' voice was coming from.

"Fenrir is Norse for fen dweller, and is most famously the name of Loki's third son, the Fenrir wolf. The stories say that during the end of days he escaped his bonds and devoured Odin, the lead god of the Norse pantheon. Laufeyson seems to be a derivative, meaning son of Laufey, another figure of mythology, notably the king or queen of the Jotun, or in English frost giants. There seems to be a great deal of ambiguity on the actual gender of Laufey." The house explained, and Loki couldn't help but burst out laughing again.

"King… Laufey was the king of frost giants, though there is only one gender among the frost giants from my own research." Loki said, which was true enough. He had done research between the time Odin had fallen into sleep and when he implemented his plan to destroy the frost giants, though it hadn't been much because he had so little time. One night was hardly enough, especially when he also had had to keep his brother from returning at a crucial time and his friends from interfering as well, though that hadn't worked out nearly as well as he had aimed for. Loki shook his head, wondering what exactly had gone wrong.

"So… you're the son of the king of the .. frost giants?" Tony asked, and Loki laughed again, once more curling his arm around his injured ribs before leaning back.

"Hardly. I'm actually something of a half breed… I was adopted you see." The pain that had come with that revelation was strangely blunted, and Loki used that for now to keep his façade steady. "Though… Part of the reason I fell off the bridge was an altercation with my foster brother about an interpretation of fathers will. I fear they're quite angry at me."

"Exactly what did you do to make your family mad?" Tony asked, a note of morbid curiosity in his voice and fascination on his face.

"Well… I was fighting with my brother… again… and the bridge was broken… I'm actually quite stranded here." The beauty of it, was that each statement was actually true, and none of them was the real reason, or even truly connected. The only reason he was stranded was his diminished magical reserves, he frequently had scuffles with his brother, and the bridge was indeed shattered.

"Alright. I don't suppose you would be willing to tell me more about where you're from and what you were doing there and what you plan on doing here?" Tony asked, and Loki raised his eyebrow, leaning back on the bed with a sigh.

"I'm from Asgard, I was a court magician, horrible job by the way, and I plan on trying to recover my strength and see what may be done about returning home." He definitely didn't add that he wanted to wait quite a while before returning to Asgard.

"Alright then. You gonna eat that?" Tony asked, pointing to the tray of food he had presented the injured god with earlier.

"Yes, thank you." Loki said, smiling at the other. "If you think that we're done with questions for now."

"Yep… for now. Well, you rest and I'll be back later… when I think I can handle more questions. If you need anything, ask Jarvis and he'll get a message to me in my lab." With that, Tony Stark got up and headed for the door, pausing and turning back with his own mischievous grin. "You can think of your two spares in the meantime."

Loki's slightly pained laugh followed him out the room, but the god of mischief didn't begrudge him that.

XXXX

Tony talked with Jarvis for hours in his lab, fiddling with his latest suit, the MK5 (it was portable) while he thought about all that his guest had given him to think about. He wasn't really amnesiac, but he was really messed up, even if Fenrir was actually some kind of Norse god, or alien or whatever.

"Alright, have you found any kind of matches in the databanks of mutants? There's always the possibility that he's just crazy." Tony stated again, running his hands over his forehead as he wondered what else to do. He was pretty sure that his guest wasn't just crazy, but there was something else bothering him about the conversation he had just had with Fenrir. "He's as quick as I am." A slow grin spread across Tony's features as he thought that conclusion through, something between challenge and fascination.

"Jarvis, replay the conversation we had. Keep volume normal and roll the visuals with it." The genius engineer grinned as he watched the recording, picking up a few nuances here and there that he hadn't quite caught when he was speaking to the other.

When it was over, he chuckled, leaning back and making a note on his tablet. "This is fascinating. Whether he's off his rocker or not, I think he's going to be the most interesting house guest I've had in ages."

"Indeed sir. While this makes for an interesting diversion however, the results you asked for regarding the Other Issue have finally come in." Jarvis stated, speaking up about it now only because Tony was in his lab alone. Tony immediately felt his mood take a sharp downward turn, and he sighed, rubbing his head again as he waited for the news.

"Alright, lay it on me big guy. What new poison am I going to have to put in my chest to keep the old ticker ticking?"

"There is no replacement for the palladium core. I have run the analysis with every known element, synthetic or natural. According to research, the only way to minimize the damage is to remove the core completely. Failing that, healthy living is recommended to minimize symptoms. A chlorophyll detox program has the highest probability of being helpful." Jarvis seemed to pause, and Tony wondered when the AI had developed that little personality quirk. "I regret that there was nothing more useful in my findings."

It took Tony a few minutes to get the immediate panic out of the way, and he once more ran his hands through his hair before getting up from the stool he had been perched on and wandering around his lab almost aimlessly. It was several more moments before he answered his AI, his normally glib tongue seemingly made of lead. "Yea… well, we only found out yesterday that this thing is killing me… so, no big deal." He groaned, flopping gracelessly onto the couch by the 'kitchenette' area of his lab. "Last scan had my blood toxicity at twelve percent, so I've got a while yet before I'll kick the bucket."

Jarvis was thankfully silent, though Tony didn't know if it was because the program would regret his passing, or just didn't have input for this part of the conversation. Tony didn't share the rest of his plans, because truthfully, at the moment he couldn't make any, and instead moved over to the cabinets and pulled out a familiar, friendly bottle.

XXX

Notes: Okay, so I really did try to have Tony not figure it out… honestly, I did, but that was way outside of his personality. Just in case it isn't obvious, this fic is taking place right after Tony finds out about the poisoning, so the fact that medical scanning was added to Jarvis's capabilities makes sense to me. Especially considering that I'm pretty sure scanning would already be in there, for checking for weapons and stuff like that? I dunno, it just makes sense to me.

As for the name Loki chose, I'm hoping that the signifigance is easy to see, and this is a shout out to all those glorious fics out there involving Loki's children as well as him using something true in his name (laufeyson) so that its not a complete lie. Lie best by telling the truth? I probably suck at this… I'm aware that Loki might not be completely in character, but if he's too far or if Tony is out of character at all, please point it out to me. I don't have a beta reader and this chapter is… erm… longer than the others… by a little.

Again, feedback gives me fuel to write more. :3


	4. Breathing hard

XXX

Notes: For all of those wonderful reviews that give me ideas and motivation for writing, I love you! For answers to the questions, I'll answer the ones that aren't spoilers. No, Loki won't be making a magic reactor for Tony, he barely has enough magic to hide from Hemidal right now *EVIL grin*. Later on… no promises (but by then he'll have the new element and it won't be needed.)

XXX

By the time the sun was setting, Loki was bored out of his mind. His wounds were still painful, but he couldn't think of any way to speed his healing further without access to more of his magic. As angry as Odin had to be, he would rather keep his meager reserves of magic keeping him hidden than speeding healing. If no one had come for him yet… well, it didn't mean they didn't know where he was, the bridge really was shattered, but they probably didn't know where he was.

Sighing, Loki got up, very careful about his wounds as he set to exploring this strange place. He had no idea that Midgardian architecture had gotten so advanced, and he was curious about what the rest of this building looked like.

"Sir, I would advise remaining in bed." The 'AI' spoke up, causing Loki to stumble and curse as he wasn't so careful with some of his bruises as he ought to have been because of it.

"Your name…. Jarvis, correct?" Loki waited for the voice to affirm his guess before continuing. "I… I'm quite bored, and I'm certain I won't heal as quickly if I'm restless with agitation."

"Would a movie perhaps be a better course of action?" Jarvis asked, and Loki still couldn't pinpoint where the voice was coming from.

"I… am unfamiliar with that term. What is a… movie?" Loki asked, frowning as he tried to look around.

"It is a form of entertainment. If you would turn left and follow the corridor into the living room, has suggested I put Trigun on." Jarvis stated, and Loki tilted his head curiously.

"You are in communication with him now?" He asked, curious since he had not heard the 'AI' speaking to someone else, nor heard Tony Stark's responses.

"Indeed sir." Was all the house said though, and the god shook his head, before gingerly sitting in the white, leather couch where the other indicated. When one of the pictures along the wall began to move, he was justifiably startled.

"What… what is this? Is this a tactical display? Or something else?" he asked, frowning at the simplized drawings taking life on the panel.

"It is a visual form of storytelling." Jarvis explained, and Loki nodded, listening to the music from the box as well.

"Its not in the language you speak." He stated, frowning at the words. "Is it not meant to be understood?"

"The opening credits are in the native language of the creator of the series, but the actual show is in English." Jarvis explained, and Loki grinned as he realized he could detect no hint of annoyance with all of his questions thus far. Relaxing on the couch, the trickster god continued to ask questions, even as he watched the 'movie' that his host had apparently chosen for him.

XXXX

When Tony came back upstairs from his lab that night, the last thing that he expected to see was Fenris having a deep conversation about the world of Gungrave with Jarvis. "How are you guys doing?" He asked, amusement in his voice as he looked up at his grinning guest.

"We fare well, sir. Pizza will be here in twelve minutes." Jarvis stated, drawing a look of confusion from Fenris.

"Pizza? You guys ordered pizza?" Tony asked, keeping track of his guests reactions.

"No sir, Pepper ordered Pizza for you under the assumption that you would not be emerging from your lab until I informed you it arrived." Jarvis stated, something vaguely smug in his voice, which made Tony snort.

"Well then, I think I'm ahead of the bell curve which is always a bonus. So, movies work out or are you still bored?" Tony asked, sliding down onto the couch not far from where the still confused looking Fenris sat against one end of it.

Underneath the confusion though, there was amusement, which was a rather good look for the dark haired man. "Well enough. The plot of the moving story is trivial at best, but I suppose that as a diversion it will do when nothing else is available."

"Dissing anime? Eh… not that I can actually blame you, its best as background while the hind-mind is working through shit and the formind is otherwise occupied." Tony said, shaking his own head with a grin. "There's also other genres as well as movies, documentaries, and plain tv shows. To be honest, I'm more likely to have to tune in to the news and I have enough money that the TV just doesn't do it for me.

"You mean there are other options than this… Trigun?" Fenris looks absolutely scandalized for a moment and Tony laughs despite himself.

"Yep… that seals it, definitely not from earth. Or at least, not from a modern part." Tony stated, grinning even as his guest simply shook his head in wonder.

"I shall have to inquire as to the options available next time." Fenris said, somewhat tightly though there seems to be no anger in him. "Concerning inquiry of unknown variables, what is.. pizza?" There was hesitation about the last word, and Tony chuckled again.

"Food… delicious food even that you'll get to try soon. I like it well enough at least, which is good since I end up eating it all too often." Tony explained, grinning. When the delivery boy knocked on the door a short time later, it turned out that Fenris liked Pizza too.

XXXX

Over the next several days, Loki became familiar with the strange sorcery of Midgard, their science that Tony seemed to be such a master of. There was a historical documentary running on the television, and the 'tablet' that his host had given him was most informative. Loki found himself absorbing Midgardian culture at an almost frenzied rate.

Since his magic still had not come back, he was quite certain that he would have to find some way to blend and hide in this realm while he made plans and plots to get his magic back.

"Hey, Fenris, get dressed, we're going out tonight." Tony said, bounding happily into the room, and Loki looked up startled. The day after he had woken up, Tony and Jarvis had acquired clothing for him, comfortable and better fitting than borrowing the humans clothing all the time.

"Going… out?" Loki asked, raising his eyebrow and glancing back down at the tablet as he wondered exactly what the human was up to.

"Yep. I haven't caused a scene lately and everything seems to be running well enough in Stark Enterprises, so I figured I might as well remedy that situation." Tony said, sounding positively gleeful as he plotted, which in turn lifted Loki's spirits. "Since you seem healed up, which I don't get but more power to you to walk away from a car accident after a week, I figure it's a perfect time to start getting used to other people."

Loki bit his lip as he considered his options and stared at the human. On one hand, if Tony was going to be causing mischief, it would be quite interesting to watch and perhaps even add his own twists to the humans plans. On the other hand though, he was quite deep into his research about this world and well enough entertained between movies and the tablet. "I… I'm more comfortable here." He stated, calculating and calm.

"All the more reason to go out, you won't have fun unless you leave the comfort zone every once in a while." Tony said infuriatingly, reaching out and gently tugging the tablet out of Loki's hand. "Come on Fenris, you only live once and I'm pretty sure that you'll learn more about people from interacting with them."

"Its not people I need to learn about… its modern culture." Loki said with a growl, before reluctantly relinquishing the tablet. "Very well… I shall return momentarily." He stated, getting up and moving to get dressed.

He chose a simple outfit similar to the one that Tony wore, and emerged true to his word only a few moments after he left the room. "Is this acceptable?" He asked, looking down on himself. It was surprisingly similar to what he wore when visiting his brother not so long ago, and as ever when he thought about it he wondered if it had been months or mere weeks or even years.

"Yea… Yea I'll say that's definitely acceptable." There was something odd in Tony's voice, and Loki looked sharply at him only to see that the other man was turning away already, and motioning for Loki to follow him. "So, Fenris, I'm not sure where you're from, but around here, let me tell you, we've got options."

Loki warily followed the man to one of his cars, llistening curiously as he listed off various food types or restraunts, the trickster wasn't sure which.

XXXX

Tony grinned as he pulled his car to a stop, glancing over at his probably extra terrestrial guest even as he glanced around himself. Anyone would have expected him to take Fenris to a bar, or a fancy restraint, or even a night club, and while that could be fun, that was not for today. Tomorrow perhaps, when Pepper heard that he was out of his lab finally and ambushed him with paperwork. He was coming to terms with Jarvis's findings though and still wasn't in the mood to deal with the fact that he was dying.

"What… what manner of place is this?" Fenris asked, and Tony grinned over at him before motioning for the taller man to follow him.

"Its called a fair, specifically it's the Madesto county fair. Rides, food, fun, and games." He stated, grinning brightly as he pulled Fenris closer to the entrance and paid for the cover fee.

"I… am not certain I see the point of being here." The alien said, and Tony grinned more brightly, taking his guest through the crowd and towards one of the more gentle rides.

"You wanted culture right? This is the culture that children are exposed to first, and as we get older we have even more fun with it. There's rides, fun, food, shows. I think there might be dancing around here somewhere too… Shopping, food… always fun, fair food." Tony rambled, grinning even wider at Fenris's looks around.

"Very well then… I suppose I have no objections to finding out more about this place." The black haired man said, following Tony.

"Oh good, it would be kinda disappointing to miss this.." Tony said with a bright grin, a little voice in the back of his head pointing out that it might be the last fair he has time for before the toxicity of his blood got too high and killed him. Especially since he was already trying to work on plans for putting his affairs in order and trying to narrow it down who he would leave Stark industries to. "Come on, my favorite ride is this way and then we'll see about getting food and maybe something a little more sedate as rides go."

All the while, in the back of his mind there was a track running about what he would be doing, and how he would leave his legacy since he didn't have any kids.

XXXX

Loki had to admit as he looked around at the 'fair' that it seemed quite nice, comfortable and not so crowded that he felt trapped. Without his magic though, he still felt ridiculously vulnerable, which actually should have made him more on edge than he was. It didn't help that all of the crowds and 'games' seemed to remind him of the sport and festivals of Asgard.

Festivals that Thor and the warriors three had always dominated, dragging Loki along only because he was Thor's brother. Still, this seemed different, and no one was telling him that he was just a coward who couldn't hope to compete. Most of the games seemed to require skill instead of strength, and Loki amused himself for a moment wondering how Thor would react to this place where skill and cunning were rewarded with toys and prizes.

"This seems… fun." He said, after they had sampled Tony's favorite rides and some of the festival foods available.

"Of course its fun, it only happens once a year so everyone who comes has to make the best of it." Tony explained, grinning as he worked on eating something called a snow cone. He had purchased two, but Loki had finished his quickly, quite liking the sweet shaved ice.

"Why does it occur only once a year?" He asked curiously, looking around at the available wonders.

"Cost, efficiency, and it's a kind of end of the school year celebration." Tony said with a shrug. "Not that that sort of thing concerns me, since really, school was so last decade. Literally.." There's something dour in the way that the human is speaking, and Loki looks at him for several moments, wondering what kind of burden the other is hiding under his flippancy. "Oooh, come on, the fun houses are always a gas."

"Fun… houses… that sounds positively horrid." Loki stated, still following the other despite his misgivings. He wanted to know more, though the driving need to take things apart was missing for some reason.

The fun house was horrid, and boring as well for one with balance as good as the god of mischief. "Illuminate for me why you find this sort of thing amusing?" he asked, peering through a rotating tunnel where Tony was trying not to trip on his own way through it.

"Because of the thrill? If I don't keep my balance I'll trip on my ass so this is supposed to be a safe way to test and challenge yourself?" Loki raised his eyebrow as that seemed more like a question than an answer. "To be honest… I'm not exactly sure." Tony admitted a moment later, and Loki grinned as he heard truth in the others words.

"I see… Perhaps we should try one of the rides next? The giant wheel has yet to be tried." Loki stated, and Tony laughed as the god breezed through the tunnel that had given the mortal so much trouble.

"Who calls it a giant wheel? It's the Ferris wheel…" Tony grumbled, reluctantly following the alien.

XXX

"How can you be impressed by hot dogs but not funnel cake?" Tony asked as Fenrir nibbled his way through the third hot dog, amazed at how much his guest liked it after it was explained that there was no actual dog meat in the creation.

"The sweet treats are a great deal like things I have had before. These… are new." Fenrir stated, grinning at the human for several moments before focusing on his last hot dog.

"Huh… so tell me about fairs where you're from then." Tony asked, and Fenrir grinned at him, an almost unassuming look on the taller mans lean features.

"Its as loud and as active, but there's dancing and tests of strength instead of… rides and games of skill." The man states, looking out fondly at the rest of the fairground. "I… I like this more. The festivals of my home are not things for children, unless they are the sons of warriors and in training."

"Huh… sounds boring as hell… Hey, wanna go play some games? We've done rides but we haven't won loot yet." The engineer grinned as he motioned towards the games of skill, and the look of interest in Fenrir's eyes was enough to make him laugh lightly. "I take it tests of strength aren't quite your thing then?"

"I will admit that I have never been one to do well in such feats." Fenrir said, something shadowed coming through his eyes, almost like shame, and Tony filed that away before the other man started talking again. "In fact, I was usually far behind my brother in such things."

"Wow… that sucks. I don't have any siblings so we never really did the sibling rivalry thing." Tony stated as they headed towards the games. "So… which one would you like to try first?" Fenrir looked around, before moving to the one where you throw darts to pop the balloons and get prizes for how many you popped.

It wasn't the most challenging game, but it was interesting to watch how Fenrir weighted the darts in his hands after asking the rules of the carnie manning the game. The engineer was then amazed as his guest managed to pop no less than four balloons with each thrown dart.

"Your hand eye coordination is definitely not lacking." Tony said as the other man walked away with a large stuffed snake as long as he was, not asking why the snake instead of the tweety or angry bird. The alien just snorted at his statement, and Tony shook his head even as he wondered what the other was thinking.

"Its not that great of a feat." The man stated, and Tony shook his head again with a grin this time. "The darts were ill balanced in any case and the 'baloons' quite frail to begin with."

"Huh… if you say so. I'm better with my repulsors…" Tony didn't grumble, but if he did his words would have fallen into that category, which bought a look of confusion to Fenrir's face. "They started out as flight stabilizers.. They aren't going commercial."

"I am afraid I don't understand." Fenrir said with a frown. "What is commercial, and what is a… repulsors?"

"Comercial means something generally mass produced for common use by anyone. My repulsors are part of a highly specialized and extremely personal prosthetic." Tony stated, grinning when Fenrir shook his head at him.

"I see…" Fenrir stated, before turning away. "Which of these games are you best with then?" he asked, obviously curious, and Tony laughed.

"I suck at all of them, mostly because they're rigged." He said brightly. "They're supposed to be extremely hard to win to keep people coming back and from winning anything too expensive."

"I see… not so very different than the feats of my home then." Fenrir said, shaking his head. "Is there anything you would enjoy playing then?"

"Sure… lets see if we can win anything from over here." Tony said with a grin, leading Fenrir over to another game involving water guns. In hindsight, that was probably a bad idea since Fenrir was more interested in soaking him than wining the game.

XXXX

Tony grumbled as he climbed out of his car, his shirt and pants still damp despite the rest of the time they had spent at the fair. They had both laughed at it though, and Tony was glad to see Fenrir is good humor, since he had been so quiet at the house.

"I should feel remorse…" Fenrir remarked, still grinning as he got out of the vehicle, sans the giant stuffed snake which had been sacrificed to appease a small herd of children much to Tony's confusion. Still, the other seemed to have a good enough time, so tony just let it be. "Instead, there is only mirth."

"Yea yea… I get it… So, like learning about human culture from up close?" Tony asked brightly, glad he had chosen the fair instead of a bar, since it had let him distract himself as well as his guest and he didn't bring home a floozy.

"It was quite enlightening, and enjoyable, thank you." Fenrir said, smiling and Tony laughed as he made his way further into the house.

"Glad you liked it then… Come on, we'll warm up some popcorn and watch another movie." Tony stated, laughing.

XXXX

There you go… next chapter… and I still didn't get everything I wanted in there… I just haven't has as much time to write between my fiancé arriving… I'm getting married next month.

Anyways, my brain is overflowing, and if you like Loki, go read Ember… also, feel free to give me ideas for this one. I know what I want to do, but I don't know how to get there… and believe it or not, this chapter isn't just filler.


	5. Run Like Hell

AN: Sorry it took so long to get this out, please read the note at the end of the chapter. I have a very important question.

XXXX

Run Like Hell

XXXX

Loki had enjoyed his trip to the fair, had been fairly happy 'hanging out' with Tony Stark, and had even enjoyed the strange 'rides' that the man had pulled him onto. He wasn't enjoying the aftereffects so much, and as he sneezed again, he curled tighter into a little ball on the bed that his host had given him. His stomach rumbled alarmingly again, and he groaned, not quite having the strength to get up and find more water. The sweet foods had been delicious, and the 'hot dogs' so very tasty, but he hadn't over eaten, he knew he hadn't. There was also no way his head should be feeling this bad, even worse than he had come to get used to with his diminished magical reserves.

He wasn't exactly powerless, but what strength he had was fighting to make his body whole again, and there was nothing he could think of that would have this devastating of an effect on him. Loki had always been more prone to illness than Thor, but even then, none of those illnesses had ever made him feel this badly. "Sir, please remain in bed. Mr. Stark will be arriving shortly with medications and something to drink." Jarvis stated, and Loki shook his head, standing up anyways even though his limbs trembled in fatigue and the room spun circles around him as he moved towards the bathroom. There was an unpleasant sensation in his throat, like he was going to void what few contents remained in his stomach after the last time he had moved to get a drink, but Loki pressed forwards anyways, making it into the large bathroom and collapsing on the blessedly cool tile floor.

"Medicine?" He asked, his normally quick mind feeling sluggish and unresponsive. "There is a midgardian cure for this illness?"

"Not really… but we do have a few things to alleviate the symptoms." Tony said from the doorway of the bathroom, and Loki looked up to him, wondering why the man looked so worried. "I didn't think you would be susceptible to catching a cold though…"

"I assure you… I made no effort… to capture this… 'cold' you speak of…" Loki managed to get out, mildly frightened by the effort that breathing and speaking at the same time was suddenly. "Though.. this flooring… is quite cool… and very comfortable.." he groaned slightly as he turned to press his hot face to one of the cool tiles.

"Might be the flu…" Tony said, still sounding extremely worried though Loki didn't know why… he was comfortable here, as he had just told the human, and had no intentions of moving until his body was more responsive. "Here… Take this… swallow them don't chew they're nasty as hell that way. Also, drink this, I don't think you're dehydrated yet, but its better to prevent that than try to treat it."

Loki let the human maneuver him into a sitting position, leaning against the cool tile wall in order to swallow the tiny, brightly colored things that almost resembled soft rocks and drink the bright red bottle of 'gatoraid' if he was reading the label right. "What is dehydrated?" He asked after he finished half of the surprisingly tasty liquid.

"When your body doesn't have enough water in it and you become ill." Tony stated, and Loki nodded, before sliding down the cool tile wall again. "Come on, you need to get back in bed. I've got Pepper in the kitchen making what she swears is the best home remedy, chicken soup."

Loki would have lost his balance had he not already been lying down due to the sudden nausea at the idea of eating something.

XXXX

Working to keep his cool even though he was worried as all hell, Tony sought out the fully equipped and mostly automated kitchen, frowning deeply. "Pepper… I've never seen anyone get so sick from a cold… or the flu for that matter." He stated, confused and uncertain on how to explain everything to his best friend slash personal secretary.

"Tony, just because you don't get that sick, doesn't mean others don't." Pepper said with the patience of a saint. "I was worried sick when Jarvis called me and told me to get medicine by the way." Tony had the good grace to look mildly embarrassed at her words, even though it wasn't entirely his fault that Fenrir was so ill.

Though, it probably wouldn't have gotten so bad for the other if Tony had noticed something beforehand, instead of having been locked in his lab making plans and doing stupid amounts of research on his expo idea. It wasn't until Jarvis informed Tony that Fenrir had turned blue that the engineer had realized something was wrong with him, and after having Jarvis give him a rundown of how much time he had been in the lab and the other mans actions, or rather lack of actions. As far as the AI could tell, Fenrir had slept through the onset of the cold, and might not even realize that a few days had passed since he had seen Tony. And then the man's temperature had plummeted instead of spiking, and Tony couldn't help but wonder if that had something to do with why Jarvis hadn't realized the man was running a fever. Then he had turned blue, and the AI had alerted Tony immediately.

The engineer still hadn't told Pepper that his guest was either an alien or a mutant, although alien was looking more and more plausible. "I'm going to hit the can, I'll be right back." Tony said, rubbing his forehead with a sigh and wondering how to break it to Pepper exactly what was going on. He was already awkward enough having admitted that there was a strange man somewhat temporarily living with him, which had caused her to give him an excessively strange look. At which point Tony had had to defend himself and his scandalous reputation with everything he was worth, claiming the purity of fresh fallen snow. Pepper, perhaps unsurprisingly, had not bought it at all, but hadn't said anything either.

Tony was finishing up in the bathroom when he heard the shriek, followed by Jarvis's calm voice. "Sir, Miss Potts seems to be quite alarmed by Mr. Laufeyson."

"I can hear that…." Tony grumbled, practically running as he made his way to the guest room. "Pepper, don't panic…" He started as he went into the room, only to be stopped by the sight ahead of him. Fenrir was sitting up, his eyes wide and glassy looking as he pressed against the headboard of the bed, the blankets were gone, tossed to the floor, as was the mans shirt and pants, though thankfully he retained the boxers that had been acquired for him. Online shopping was wonderful that way.

What seemed to have alarmed Pepper though was the fact that instead of being a little bit blue, like he had been for the last few hours since Jarvis had called Tony upstairs, he was a deep sapphire blue, with lighter and darker markings on his skin that looked almost like ridges. His black hair, already sweat slicked, now had ice crystals forming on it and was amazingly curly and frizzy. Oh, and the headboard was covered in frost where Fenrir was touching it. "Uhm… this is new." He stated, and Pepper turned to glare at him, her shaky hands holding the tray of hot soup even though there was a wild look in her eyes.

"You didn't tell me your new friend was a mutant." She accused, glaring and moving to the dresser to set down the tray with soup.

"Technically, I think he's an Alien. Are you alright Fenrir?" Tony asked, concerned about the amount of ice forming on the bed.

"Not… at all…" The man wheezed, and Tony moved forward automatically to steady him and help him lay back a bit. Instead of being able to help though, Fenrir threw himself away from Tony, landing with a thump on the recently discarded blankets. "Do not touch me… when I am like this Tony Stark… it is not safe…"

"Not safe? Does this happen every time you get sick?" Tony asked, frowning as he stayed where he was, not moving forward to try to help the other, or away because he certainly didn't want to give the impression that he was scared of the man who had been living with him these few short weeks.

"No… This is the first time…" Fenrir admitted, his voice a raspy growl. "I apologize for scaring you Lady…" He trailed off, seeming to hunch behind the bed as if he could hide himself from their view.

"Potts… Pepper Potts, she's my secretary." Tony explained, an eyebrow raised as he realized that Fenrir's breathing was actually becoming less labored by the moment. "So… feeling any better?" He asked, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"… much actually…" Fenrir said, his tone far from happy even as he lay down on the floor next to the bed. "Again… I apologize… It must be quite upsetting to find a monster where one was not expected." His words were much more clear than they were just half an hour ago when Tony had given him the medicine in the bathroom, and he actually seemed more coherent though the engineer was also alarmed at how he termed himself.

"Its… Its fine, I was just startled." Pepper said, smiling though Fenrir wasn't looking her way. "I'm sorry for overreacting, its more this lugs fault for not warning me." She said cheerfully pointing at Tony, and it wasn't forced at all. "I bought some soup, I'm not sure if you're very hungry or not, being sick makes me lose my appetite."

"It is much appreciated… If you would give me a few moments to… make myself presentable…" Fenrir requested, and Pepper nodded, blushing as she quickly left the room, and Tony watched the blue skinned man for a few more moments before following, though he paused at the door and turned back.

"You do realize you're not a monster, right?" Tony asked, and if he hadn't been watching Fenrir as closely as he could, he wouldn't have noticed how startled the man was with that question. "You aren't. Have Jarvis give us a call when you're ready and I'll help you to the kitchen… You probably want to get out of here since… Hey.. I'm sorry… about not noticing earlier that you were'nt feeling too good. Jarvis said it started after the trip to the fair, and I don't know what got you down but I'm sorry I got so distracted…"

"Pay it no mind, Tony Stark. I am feeling much recovered from this morning, and perhaps that has something to do with… this…" Loki stated, motioning to himself, and Tony nodded, feeling like a dirtbag before he left the room, a certain theory solidifying in his head.

He made his way towards the kitchen and rubbed his head while wondering if he had slept in the last thirty six hours, and he couldn't remember doing so, so he immediately went to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup of happiness to keep him awake.

"You could have warned me." Pepper said as Tony took his first sip, and the genius looked over at her confused for a moment. "About your new friend being… blue." She clarified, looking slightly shaken herself, and Tony shook his head, pulling out a second mug for her coffee.

"No, I couldn't have because he wasn't blue until a few hours ago, and he was far less blue at that point… it looked more like he was catching hypothermia actually." Tony explained, frowning. "I thought his body might be going into shock after being sick a few days…"

"How did he get sick?" Pepper asked, and Tony had the grace to look even more embarrassed.

"I toned down my profile and went to the fair with him… he's curious about earths culture and its not an act. Since he doesn't seem malicious, it didn't seem like it would cause problems." Tony explained, sipping at his coffee. "I'm still surprised no one recognized me, since its been almost a year since my last public scandal, and hanging out with a guy at the fair would have been just the ticket, but it was fun enough… for hanging around with a guy. Also, you wouldn't believe how well he understands everything. A bit cool emotion wise, but he's…" Tony bit his lip, determined not to say anything else on the matter, not to point out that Fenrir was as smart as he was, and Pepper wasn't. That was one social blunder he was good at identifying if nothing else, and being a billionaire covered the rest of his blunders on a regular basis.

"You said something about alien, not mutant. What did you mean?" Pepper asked, glaring at Tony and he winced, not having really meant to let that slip.

"I asked, he doesn't seem to know what a mutant is, and the few times I've got him to talk about where he's from, its like something out of norse mythology. Since there's no such thing as magic, its more likely he's from a race that inspired such legends in the first place since sufficiently advanced technology has been mistaken for magic and miracles by primitive societies before." Pepper was staring at him and so Tony just shrugged, taking a drink of his coffee before speaking again. "I've been brushing up on history and 'social sciences' because I was… intrigued. Also, considering all of the analyses that Jarvis has been running on him, he's agreed its unlikely that Fenrir is human, so… yea. It seems pretty likely he's been telling the truth."

"So you trust him?" Pepper asked, wary but still agreeable, and Tony nodded.

"As much as I can trust anyone that's not you or Rhodey." Tony admitted, taking a deep swig of what was left of his coffee before frowning. "At least as far as where he's from and what he's up to, I guess."

"Right… And how long ago did you go to the fair? It's the Modesto one that closes tomorrow right?" She asked, thinking about something and Tony shrugged before looking down.

"Four days ago… You can check the security footage if you want, but he's been under the weather since then…." Tony admitted, wincing.

"Three days." Pepper asked, and there was something suddenly dangerous in her voice that made Tony wince again. "When you called me up panicing earlier, I assumed that this was a fresh development. Why did you not have me bring over medicine before it got critical?" Her voice was as cold as Fenrir's room had been after he turned blue, and Tony looked up at her and smiled disarmingly.

"Well… yea, that really is my fault, I've been working on a project you see and got caught up in it and didn't realize that he'd been there for three days." Tony explained, trying for nonchalant in the face of the murderous rage he could almost see building on her face. "To be fair, Jarvis didn't notice anything out of the ordinary either, right buddy?"

"I apologize Miss Potts, but I did indeed not notice anything amis until Mr. Laufeyson's temperature dropped below human norm." Jarvis spoke up, and Tony grinned wider, glad that his AI didn't seem too put out with him. "However, it was mildly irresponsible of Mr. Stark to ignore his guest for so long."

"Traitor." Tony glowered, glaring at one of the nodes where he could direcly access and interface with Jarvis if he needed to. "I knew I shouldn't have dedicated so much of the processor to… whatever it is that makes me feel guilty when you do that."

"I believe that is compassion, Sir." Jarvis stated, before falling quiet again even as Pepper shook her head.

"Tony, you can't blame your computer for not noticing." Her words were firm, and she ignored Tony's protest that Jarvis wasn't just any computer. "If you have someone else living in the same space as you, you do not ignore them, this is basic social courtesy and I thought you knew at least that much."

"I don't do social courtesy, I throw money at the problem till I don't need courtesy…." Tony grumbled, setting down his now empty coffee cup and frowning again. "Although, I guess now is as good a time as any to start. Jarvis, where is Fenrir? Did he fall asleep again, or is he still getting ready? He's never seemed slow, but I guess being sick could take a lot out of him, and he should have let you know he was ready to come out and get a change of view already."

It was several moments before the AI answered, which in itself alarmed Tony, though the computers words were even more alarming. "I apologize Sir, but Mr. Laufeyson is nowhere on premisis. The last visual record I have of him was when he was getting dressed before taking a seat on the bed."

"What?"

XXXXXX

Loki groaned, pausing and leaning against a handy building to catch his breath as he looked around, determined to put as much distance between himself and someone who knew what he was as possible. He needed to get his head clear of this cursed, cold, fever so that he could resume his favored form rather than staying in this monstrous Jotun form. No doubt Tony meant well when he said that Loki wasn't a monster, but the little mortal knew far from the whole truth. Loki had held as much back as he dared in the face of the humans frighteningly familiar intelligence.

For being mortal, and all the differences that implied, Tony Stark was smarter than Loki's brother and the warriors three, and Lady Sif, all put together, which wasn't saying much, but the fact that the mortal could easily give Loki challenge was. Growling at himself to get over it, Loki straightened up, hoping no one would notice the cool chill that seemed to follow him in the early autumn air. He needed to find shelter and food to regain his strength, so he could resume his preferred form which was missing at the moment, after which he would need to find somewhere else to lay low until he could reliably find out what happened to him.

He had poured over the tomes of science and psychology and even mythology that Tony Stark had had access to, but it had all been for very close to nothing. Oh, he had learned a great deal about Midgard, and a great deal about sciences of all kinds, but absolutely nothing new on magic, or how he might get his own back. Hunching down, Loki continued his fairly aimless wandering, wondering exactly how to fix everything that was wrong with him.

XXXXXXXX

Yea… Sorry it took so long to get this up. Also, this seems so short… is this short? o.o… I've been panicking about my upcoming wedding, working, and generally being bogged down by Life, in all its myriad intricacies.

That being said, I have a question relating to plot. I know exactly how this is going to end, and I've got some delicious Frostiron scenes in mind for when Tony and Loki meet again. However, getting there is proving to be a problem since I'm trying to figure out what happens in between. Tony's encounter with Loki will change not so many things in Iron Man 2, though I will be keeping a bit from him in every chapter because it does change certain motivations. My question is would anyone be interested in seeing a partially powerless Loki hook up with the Brotherhood of Mutants? I can see Eric Lensherr fascinating Loki for all of a few weeks, and it would be a relatively safish place (by Loki's standards) for him to hide out while also giving him access to wander around and break laws while looking for a way to get his magic back.

In my mind X-men-verse and Avengers-verse have the possibility of being the same verse, by omission probably.

Also, there will be a post for Ember sometime either tonight or tomorrow, so please be sure to check that out. And that's it for my stupid rambling…. Thank you for reading and please leave a review.


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